Refrigeration apparatus



Oct 5, 1937. L. G. MORSE ET AL REFRIGERA'TION APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 2l, 1956 Sme/Mica x l L. CLA/forse aw B. B.D Ewart,

0C*- 5, 1937- G. MORSE ET AL 2,095,005

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS Filed April 2l, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Lsie CLA/forse, Benjamin B.DEwau-,

UNITED 4STATES PATENTv GFFICE Y2,095,005 REFRIGERATION APPARATUS Leslie G. Morse, Randolph, Vt., and Benjamin B. DEwart, Worcester, Mass.

Application April 21, 1936, serial No. 75,63

3 Claims.

'Ihe invention relates to refrigerating apparatus, and more particularly to a unit self contained for the refrigeration and circulation of liquids in tanks; applicable to the cooling of water, milk,

brine, or other liquids. It is specially valuable to install on various kinds of tanks initially or as a replacement without requiring special structure in the tanks, as long as it is possible to introduce a moderate size coil forming the refrigerating member or evaporator element, in which refrigerant is allowed to circulate or evaporate. It is a particular aim of the invention to enable the installation of such a unit without requiring the provisioniof support brackets' in the tank and without engagement of the refrigerator unit with surfaces within theftank, to the end that it `is only necessary to set a frame part of our unit on the l wall of the tank and the evaporator will thereby faces of the evaporator.

be supported clear of all tank surfaces while extended properly into the liquid to be refrigerated, and the liquid caused to circulate upon the sur- It is an aim'to enable the placing of our unit in operation upon a conventional cooling tank for milk cans as used on dairy farms and other uses, by merely cutting a small slot in the edge of the hinged cover or jamb provided on such tanks, and setting our unit on the top of the tank with a drive housing tube and refrigerant conduits set in the slot, and to enable correspondingly simple installation in other situations and uses.

It is also an object to make the submerged element in a novel relation to the support and to make the support connection revoluble, to the end that the plant may be immediately adapted to various requirements of direction and location of both the external apparatus on the tank and the submerged unit. y

Another object is to evolve a novel coil and mountingfor the submerged unit. Another object is to provide a novel and efficient means for circulating the liquid to be cooled.

Additional objects, advantages and features of invention reside in the construction, arrangement and combination of parts involved in the embodiment of the invention as will appear from the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a sectional view of a tank'with our complete unit in place, the evaporator in one position.

Figure 2 is a top view of the unit, the evaporator being dotted in a different position.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross section of a tank across the hinge axis i the cover,

Figure 5 is a View similar to Figure 1, showing a further form of the invention.

Figure 6 is a detail of the agitator drive and evaporator support.

Figure '7 is an outer end view of the evaporator. 'Figure 8 is an enlarged end view of the coil and f its support.

Figure 9 is a horizontal section of the mounting of the agitator tube on the frame.

There is illustrated conventionally a tank II), which may be of any desired construction to contain water, a brine, or other liquid, a narrow roof or shelf portion I I being in this instance formed on the tank rearwardly of the cover I2 on which a compressor-condenser-collector unit is mounted, which may be termed the compressor unit I3. In Figure 1 the compressor unit I3 may be assumed to be arranged parallel to the hinge axis of the cover, although it may be found preferable in other situations to arrange it at right angles to the cover edge, as in Figure 2. i The evaporator unit I4 is arranged in Figure 1 substantially with its major axis in a vertical plane medially of the compressor unit, but in Figure 2 it is shown at right angles to such plane; and it may be shifted to extend oppositely to either of these positions or obliquely, as will appear..

The compressor unit includes a bed frame I5, at one extremity of which a conventional compressor I6 is mounted on a raised part of the frame. The compressor has a large pulley I'I by which it is driven through the belt I8 from the motorv I9 mounted on a swinging belt-compensating mounting. The motor shaft is provided with a fan 20 to cool a y'condenser coil 2| elevated on suitable brackets beside the motor fan. The collector` or receiver 22 of liquefied refrigerant is located at the end of the frame beyond the motor, and any usual motor controls may be provided at 23, responsive to any usual manual or thermostatic operating devices not shown. The refrigerant circuit in thecompressor unit conforms to familiar practice. y e

At the end of the frame I5 next the compressor I6 a vertical tube 24 is secured releasably by means of a strap 25 bolted to the frame, the latter being formed with a saddle recess to receive the side of the tube therein so that it will be held against movement from vertical position. By loosening the bolts of the strap, the tube may be rotated or removed. Fixed on the end face of the frame above the tube there is an angle drive fltf on the lower side receiving the upper end of the tube revolubly therearound; the fitting having therein any approved drive 28 by which rotary motionmay be transmitted at r'ight angles from a pulley shaft- 2l extending horizontally from the upper part of the'iltting and beyond the rear side of the frame I5, and carrying a small pulleyjll driven by the belt 8l from a largepulley 32 mounted on the compressor shaft beside its pulley I1. The drive 28 is shown as a bevel-gear transmission, the driven gear in which operates a short shaft 33 stopping within the boss and having a detachable lap loint with a main agitator shaft 34 inserted in the boss and supported by suitable bearings in the tube. 'I'his shaft and the tube may extend several feet downward, the distance being suited to the tank on which the equipment is to be installed. Stock lengths may be provided each of which will be applicable to tanks varying in depth within a certain range, or a single standard length may be provided suitable for any depth oi normal tanks provided the liquid level in the tank is maintained a short distance o projects to carry an impeller 38 of approved de.

sign, it being customary to form the blades lto thrust the liquid downwardly.

Secured on the lower end of the tube there is a fixed spider 31 having an annular rim 38 larger in diameter than the impeller braced by diagonal staysv 38 secured tothe tube 24 a distance above. 'I'he annulus 38 forms the upper terminus of an elbow 48 having a horizontal cylindrical flume 4I xed therein, the diameter oi.' which is somewhat larger than that of the annulus 38. The elbow may be a casting of anti-corrosive metal, and the ume may be a sheet metal case or drawntube tted around the lower mouth of the elbow and secured. The outer end of the flume has a reinforcing ring or bead 42 fixed or formed thereon.

A vertical strut 43 (Fig. 4) is formed or fixed across the lower mouth of the elbow suitably shaped to minimize impedance of liquid flow through the elbow, and to this strut there is secured a cylindrical coil support 44 concentric with the iiume 4I consisting of a section of tubing fiattened and sealed at the ends, one flattened end being welded to the strut, while the other end is provided with ring sectors or saddles 45 also concentric with the fiume, but iof a radius greater than that of the tublng'of the support 44. 'I'he attening oi' the tube broadens it so that the ring sectors may be mounted directly upon the lateral edges oi' the attened part. 'I'he saddles 45 are of short extent both as to arc and longitudinally of the ume, and are iltted into the outer end of the inner part of a double coil 48 extending the i'ull length of the flume 4|. This coil constitutes the evaporator proper in the system illustrated.

'I'he coil is formed by winding a suitable ductile pipe in one direction on a suitable mandrel to form the spiral inner coil 41, and at a proper length the coil 41 is set in a tubular mandrel not shown, and the pipewound thereon in the same direction circumferentially as before, and with similarly spaced convolutions, but with an opposite inclination so thata spiral coil 48 is formed around and spaced outward of the rst and terminating at or close to the beginning of the first wardly from the fiume. For the reception of the fpipe through the fiume wall the end of the latter may be slotted at the inner end to pass the pipe as it is slipped onto the mouth of the elbow after assembly of the coil on the support 44. One end of the portion 49 of the pipe is extended from the coil upward a distance, stopping short of the level-of the frame I and provided with a usual expansion valve 50, from which a small feed duct 5| for liquid refrigerant is extended into close relation to the tube 24, and thence upwardly beside the tub'e, toaI terminal coupling 52 mounted on the frame I5, and from which a suitable duct 52' is led to the collector 20. The other pipe end 53 from the double coil is brought into close relation to the tube 24 and extended upwardly therebeside above the frame I5 and connected directly to the intake tting of the compressorl I8. 'I'he n valve 58 may be adjusted so that its outlet is submerged, and if of the hand regulated type as shown, the regulator valve knob 55 may be above the surface of the liquid infthe tank."y

In the use loi' this device, the frame I5 may be set in place on thetop of a tank, after the forma- '.tion of a slot adjacent the hinge axis of .the lid,

or anyxother suitable aperture may be made as desired. 'I'he end of the frame is adjusted at the location wherethe tube and refrigerant carrying pipes are to pass through the top of the tank. If desired, the evaporator unit may be attached and connected first and the complete plant set in place as a unit. It may be preferable in some cases however, to have the tube 24 and pipes 5| and 53 disconnected while the frame is adjusted in position, after which the tube may be slipped upwardly around the boss 21 while the strap 25 is loose, the joint of the shafts 34 and 38 being properly engaged and after adjustment of the flume in the desired direction the strap is tightened. The pipes 5I and 53 may then be connected to the collector and compressor unit as described and the apparatus. willbe ready for use 1 milk cooling tank use that the appliance may be' so adjusted that a newly introduced can of fresh milk partially chilled may be initially set at the most accessible part of the tank, and be directly in thedischarge current 'from the flume so that rapid chilling will be completed, whereas` the chilling would be slower if the `can were set in the liquid out of such path to be acted upon after diffusion of the discharge of the fiume through a major body of liquid in the tank, or where a widely extended coil 'is mounted around the walls of the tank.

The evaporator unit may be utilized as a unit connected to any compressor-condenser unit by the construction shown in Figure 4, where a foot collar 58 is secured releasably to the upper end of the tube having a foot flange to be secured on a tank top after adjustment of the i'lume as required; In this instance an angle drive device 28 similar to that rst described is mounted on the tube by engagement therewith as in Figure 6, but

instead of being fastened to a separate frame, is

secured directly to the tube 24 by screw 58. It carries a 'pulley 30 so that it can be driven by belt y from any power unit.

By the construction shown, the pulley may be adjusted in any plane to aline with the most convenient location oi the driving means and the evaporator extended independently in any direction to adapt it best to the tank or the manner of use of the tank.

In Figure 5, the evaporator` is embodied as a self-contained direct-connected motor operated chilling and agitator unit. In this instance, the collar and foot flanges may be as described in reference to Figure 4, and a motor 59 is mounted on the upper end of the tube in the same manner as the angle drive device 28, a similar coupling between the agitator shaft and motor shaft being effected similar to that between shafts 34 and 33 in Figure 6. /The evaporator coil in this device may be supplied from any suitable refrigerantcompressing and condensing device, to which the return from the coil may also be connected.

With the construction of Figure 5 the motor may be adjusted in the most convenient position for servicing of the brushes, oiling, and for keeping the lead-in wires in a location least liable to injury by movement of the cover or cans, or other objects being handled about the tank.

All forms of' the invention contribute to the use of the space least required for other use generally. Thus, where the tank to be refrigerated is built in a corner of a room, the corner of the tank located toward that corner of the room will be the least used for placement of cans, as the custom is to set the cans at the side most convenient of access. Consequently, for suchlocation it would be desirable to have the tube 24 located as close as practicable to the far corner of the tank, and the frame I5 could then be :laid along either wall, according to which is black of the hinge of the cover, or otherwise most desirable,

and the fiume could be extended along either wall of the tank or diagonally into the tank as preferred. In the latter adjustment, a current of freshly chilled brine would be projected toward the outermost corner of the tank most convenient for setting a fresh can of milk therein for rapid chilling, and for subsequent shifting.

In having the complete impeller and evaporator unit extending radially from the axis of the rotatably adjustable tube 24 while being supported entirely on this tube, it will be seen that practically any desired location of the evaporator and the chilled liquid current may be secured as normally required. That is to say, it will not ordinarily be desired to locate the evaporator directly at the front side of a tank where cans are being most frequently introduced and otherwise moved,

and by a proper location of the axis of the tube 24 near a back wall, the evaporator may be extended alongside the back wall or side wall or diagonally from either corner or may be laid along or at any angle to the back wall anywhere in its length, and at the same time the compressor unit may also be adjusted on any radius of the tube found most practicable and desirable. All this, without requiring any rest or other contact for the evaporator on the tank bottom or walls, which by vibration might ultimately wear a hole in a lining; and also without requiring the construction of any saddle supports or brackets within the tank.

As a consequence, the installation of one of my plants or evaporator-impeller units involves a radical reduction of labor and materials cost as compared to prior practice, and may be effected without emptying the tank, or interrupting its use.

In the operation of' the plant, the function of the compressor unit will be conventional, and the impeller may also operate with effects similar to those of impeller devices heretofore suspended in tanks for circulatory purposes. The action of I the refrigerant is also conventional, although its utilization is made more effective, as will appear. By having the impeller operate to draw liquid into the top of the elbow there is assurance that the flow to the device will always be unobstructed, and similarly the discharge will be free of undue limitation by side walls and bottom by the arrangements described.

In the passage of the liquid from the impeller to the ume,the deilector 44 will cause it to impinge effectively upon the coils 41 and 48` and compel it to circulate closely therearound.

The largely staggered relation of the inner and outer coils together with the two inclinations thereof tending to cause rotation of the incident liquid in opposite directions, produces a high turbulence in the stream passing through the flume, with resultant high efliciency in heat transfer, enabling the effective chilling of a large volume of liquid by a relatively short coil the surfaces of which may be at very low temperature with a minimum liability of freezing of the'ambient liquid. At the same time, a maximum absorption of heat by the refrigerant is effected by reason of the rapid and effective flow and displacement of liquid around and from the surfaces Aof the coil, and also by reason of the terminal or so that a maximum rate of transfer is maintained at the coil surfaces where the refrigerant is departing. The tendency for freezing to occur on the coil is also minimized by reason of the fact that as the liquid from the impeller becomes engagedvwith the coil 41 it tends to rotate by following the spiral direction of the coil, and thereby becomes centrifugally thrown olf radially and fresh liquid drawn against the coil from next the axis, so that the warmest liquid will be constantly brought against the coldest part of the coil. The outer coil will also have some effect of this kind, but as this coil is less inclined longitudinally of the flume, the effect mentioned may be less pronounced than at the coil 21.

The construction of the various parts involved is inexpensive and the apparatusis liable in a minimum degree to depreciation, wear and breakage, and functions with high efficiency in all essentials.

It should be noted that by loosening the connections 52 and 54 the terminals of the pipes 5I and 53 can rotate on the terminals of the compressor and pipe 52 in the rotative adjustment of the fiume around the axis of the tube 24, so that these need not be completely disconnected, and the adjustment of the flume may be accomplished without torsional deformation of the pipes, and with a minimum bending of them.

We claim:-

1. .A refrigeration device comprising a support rotatively adjustable on a vertical axis, means to fix the support at adjusted positions, a depending tube carried by the support, a radially extended flume at the lower end of the tube, an impeller mounted at the lower end of the tube to impel liquid radially outward through the flume, a refrigerating coil mounted in the flume, and an operating means for the impeller including a mounting revolubly engaged with the upper end of the tube, and means to secure the tube and said mounting together.

2. Acirculator and refrigerator for liquids comprising a cylindrical fiume, a helical pipe coil for refrigerant `arranged longitudinally therein, an external support for one end of the coil and a support for the coil within the ilume comprising a transverse strut, a cylinder concentric with the coil nxed on the strut. and saddle means carried' by and spaced from the exterior of the cylinder fitted within the coil, an impeller device at one end of the nume, means to operate the lmpeller,

and means to supply refrigerant to the coll.

3. In a refrigeration system of the kind which comprises the known combination of a' compressor-condenser machine having a base frame constructed to be set upon a tank top and the like,

a cooling evaporator operatively connected with said machine and suspended from the frame so that it will be located within a tank on which the frame is set, means immediately adjacent the evaporator to impel circumambient fluid past the evaporator; operative connections between t@ machine'and impellerz-a vertical axis member, means for mounting said evaporator so as to be adjustably rotative about said axis member, and a directing device for fluid propelled by the impeller surrounding the evaporator and mounted radially to said axis member.

LESLIE G. MORSE. BENJAMIN B. DEWART. 

